Author's Notes: boris yeltsin: Happy birthday to you! I'm really looking forward to Faith, and she'll have a big part in the sequel.
Missocki: Oz definitely has a role to play, and I think you'll like what happens in the end. Werewolves have always been my favorite horror monsters.
Forever-Furuba: That would be awesome, but Spike is years of character development away from being safe to spend a holiday with the Summers. He's my favorite male character. Maybe it's just my skewed sense of what's cute, but I always found that scene in "Pangs" where Spike is looking in the window at the vampire patting the other on the back as he feeds endearing.
Dirty Tube Socks: You're not getting all that far ahead. There's a reason "family" is the first genre on this story. After this chapter and the next things will be more focused on that side of things than the romance for a while, but then come back around.
Chapter Eight: Gig, Part One
Career week was starting at Sunnydale High, and the Slayer wasn't too enthusiastic about the test with her fate already decided. Joyce was out buying art in Los Angeles until Thursday, so Tara had agreed to come over in the evenings to watch Dawn while Buffy was slaying.
Dawn had gone up to her room and Tara was passing the time reading until her friend returned from patrol. She heard muffled voices coming from Buffy's room and then the sound of a door opening.
"Dawn!" Buffy's voice shouted.
Tara closed her book and went upstairs to see what had happened. Buffy was glaring at her younger sister, who had fallen back onto the floor in front of Buffy's room.
"What's going on, i-is everything okay?" Tara asked.
"You were spying on me." Buffy accused Dawn.
"The front door never opened, and-and I heard talking in your room." She explained. "I thought we might be getting robbed."
"And so you leaned against my door?" Buffy said sarcastically. "You should be asleep."
"I was, until you got home. Maybe I'll tell mom you're going skating with Angel." Dawn threatened.
"You're going skating with Angel?" Tara asked, wondering when that had been arranged.
She guessed that was the male voice she had heard earlier. It was unnerving that she hadn't noticed him enter the house. It was a good thing vampires had to be invited to enter a residence. If they could move that silently she wouldn't be able to catch them before they got to her or Dawn in the event of a home invasion.
"Yes, we made a date." Buffy admitted. "Dawn, you're not really going to stop me from having some kind of normal social life are you?"
Granted a date with a two hundred and forty something year old vampire wasn't completely normal, but it was close enough for Buffy given the weirdness of her life.
"I don't know." Dawn said with a shrug. "Are you gonna be home at all this week?" She sounded a bit hurt.
"You know she has to go fight monsters at night Dawnie." Tara said. "But I'll be here."
"Thank you." Buffy said to Tara before sighing. She turned to face her sister again. "Can I make it up to you?"
"Make it up to me?" Dawn asked. "Like how?"
Buffy reached into her pocket and pulled out a hefty chuck of the money their mother had left her with for the week.
"You can have this. Go out with some friends tomorrow to a movie or something."
The preteen took the bribe gladly.
"Awesome! I'll see if anyone wants to have a sleepover and we can order like a million pizzas." She left for her room, Buffy relieved and Tara concerned by her excitement.
"Um, are you sure that's such a good idea?" Tara asked warily. "This might train her to blackmail you whenever she wants something."
Buffy sighed again.
"I just really need a break." She paused for a moment, feeling guilty. "Am I a bad sister, throwing money at her to shut her up and leaving other people to take care of her?"
Tara shook her head.
"You don't even register on the bad sibling scale. But Dawn might feel better if you spent more time together."
The Slayer groaned at the thought.
…
The next morning the test results were posted. Tara saw Cordelia laughing as Xander checked his assignment. The brunette walked off and Xander noticed Tara's approach, looking embarrassed.
"Tara." He greeted her. "Wouldn't you say you know me about as well as anyone else? Maybe even better than I know myself?"
"Probably not better, but I guess. Why?" She asked.
"When you look at me, do you think prison guard?"
"Really?" Tara said in surprise, looking under 'Harris' to confirm. "They gave you prison guard?"
"According to my test results I can look forward to being gainfully employed in the growing field of corrections." He said cynically as Tara found his name.
"Don't worry about it. You can't take these tests too seriously." She flipped under 'M' and showed him 'Maclay, Donald'. "Look, they gave my brother prison guard too, and you're nothing like him."
"Oh yeah? What did you get?" Xander asked, having already seen Tara's results beneath Donny's. "Still think they shouldn't be taken seriously?"
"Graphic design or museum curator." She read, pleasantly surprised. "That actually sounds…" She looked back at Xander, who had figured she'd enjoy her posted careers. "… c-completely random. It doesn't mean anything." Tara finished, trying to protect Xander's feelings.
"It's fine." He flipped up the paper covering R through T. "Huh, Buffy's at the law enforcement booth. Guess she'll be bringing me crooks to maltreat."
Tara squinted at the list, noticing a glaring omission.
"I-I don't see Rosenberg anywhere."
"That's weird. Willow was psyched about the test."
He looked up and saw Willow and Buffy coming out from the school building. They met up and the girls giggled at Xander's assignment. Buffy was less amused to find she had been assigned to the police booth. She left them to go see Giles, who had been expecting her to be extra-efficient and check in with him every day after homeroom.
"You guys didn't check to see which seminar I was assigned to, did you?" Willow asked hopefully.
"We did, and you weren't." Xander answered.
"I wasn't what?"
"On the list. We couldn't find your name." Tara said apologetically.
"But I handed in my test. I used a number two pencil." Willow fretted.
Xander shrugged his shoulders.
"Then I guess you must have passed."
"It's not the kind of test you pass or fail."
"Y-you should go talk with a teacher about it, see if there was mix-up." Tara suggested. "I-I'm sure it was just misplaced or something."
Willow pouted and went back inside in search of answers. The staff assured her that her test had been received. Later that day she was taken aside by two men in black suits.
…
Oz had been waiting for almost half an hour, having been left with fancy finger food and Vivaldi music to occupy him until the software company recruiter arrived. The guitarist had filled his plate, mostly out of boredom. He wasn't sure he trusted the snacks and held up his loaded plate, inspecting it from every angle. He heard the MIB bringing someone else into the room.
"Please, make yourself comfortable."
"But I didn't even get my test back." A girl's voice protested.
"The test was irrelevant." The man informed her. "We've been tracking you for some time."
"Is that a good thing?" The girl asked nervously.
"I would think so. We're very selective. In fact, only one other Sunnydale student met our criteria."
Oz felt the girl sit on the middle of the sofa. He was stunned when he looked over and saw it was the mystery girl he'd been seeing everywhere for the last two months. The redhead smiled nervously at him, hands folded in her lap. For a moment he sat in silence, wondering what his first words should be now that he finally had a chance to talk to her. He decided to hold out the plate of hors d'oeuvres.
"Canapé?" He offered.
"No thanks, I um, my stomach's a little 'prrgh' right now from the nervousness." She declined. Oz set the plate down with a small shrug. "This is all so weird. I thought those guys were from the government or something and I was getting arrested. Not that I've ever done anything for them to arrest me for, well, okay maybe I get into databases I shouldn't sometimes with the hacking, I guess that's what they meant when they said they'd been tracking me. Were they tracking you? I mean, you wouldn't be here if you weren't into computers, so I guess you could be a hacker too, and I'm talking way too much when we don't even know each other's names. My name is Willow, what's yours? Unless I've freaked you out too much and you don't want to give your name to a felon. Not a felon, because we're not being arrested, right, right."
"Oz." He said, amused by her outburst. "If you promise not to shank me I think we'll be good."
Willow relaxed, calmed by the boy's easy going demeanor. Before they could chat any further the recruiter arrived. Willow sat in rapt attention as the man described what a career in software development would entail, and she tried to sound as sharp as possible when asked questions. Oz just kept a tiny smile and nodded, not really paying attention to him. Programming wasn't really a job that interested him, in that it fell under the category of employment. He was just glad to have had a good first meeting with the girl who'd taken his breath away the moment he saw her.
…
While the others had gone to their career week seminars, Buffy and Giles had been searching for more information on the relic that was stolen by vampires the night before. Giles had deduced it was a device called the du Lac cross, and that it was going to be used to translate the book another vampire had stolen from his collection the week Ford was in town. It seemed the vampires had all that they needed to pull off whatever scheme they had brewing.
"Unless we can preempt their plans." The Watcher said rubbing his forehead in stress.
"How?" Willow asked.
"By learning what's in the book before they do." He said taking a seat. "Which means we can expect to be here late tonight."
"Goody! Research party!"
They all looked at Willow, who was brimming over with excitement. Tara grinned, finding her enthusiasm extremely cute.
"Will, you need a life in the worst way." Xander said pointing at her.
Buffy got up, reminded of her plans with Angel.
"Speaking of… I have to bail, but I promise I'll be back bright and early tomorrow and ready to slay."
"This is a matter of some urgency, Buffy." Giles said firmly.
"I realize that." Buffy said. "Well, you have to admit I kinda lack in the book area. Tara's got the ancient languages covered, and Willow's the net girl. I'll only be here for moral support anyway."
"That's untrue, Buff." Xander disagreed. "You totally contribute. You go for snacks!"
Buffy looked to Willow and Tara for back up. Tara was glad to support the Slayer in getting a night off; she deserved one with all the pressure she was under.
"She should go… you know… gather her strength." Willow said.
"A-and she'll need to check in with Dawn, s-see if she can go stay with one of her friends tonight." Tara added.
"Perhaps you're right." Giles put his glasses back on. "There may be fierce battles ahead."
Buffy began to leave and Xander objected, being the only one besides the librarian ignorant of the ice skating date.
"But HoHos are a vital part of my cognitive process." He complained.
"Sorry Xand. Some place I have to be."
The men looked at each other in confusion and she was out the door.
"You could go for snacks." Willow suggested. "Unless you like the books better."
"Snack duty it is." Xander declared, getting up for a food run already.
…
A couple hours later Buffy returned to the library with a ring taken from a vanquished foe. A one-eyed demon man had attacked her at the skating rink, and after looking at the ring Giles recognized it as a symbol of the Order of Taraka. They were an extremely deadly group of assassins, and Giles warned that where there was one there would be another, and another. Buffy took the threat very seriously. She headed to the home of the only person she thought could help her fight such a threat.
…
Hours passed, and research was bearing little fruit. Willow and Tara were reading books on the counter as Giles looked through the index cards.
"I wish there was more we could do." The redhead said sadly.
"Me too." Tara agreed. "I wish I had more of those protection charms we made."
She would certainly put some effort into researching stronger protection spells the next time she and Willow got together for a lesson.
"We're doing all that we can." Giles told them. "The only course of action is to try and find out what was in that stolen book."
"I've never seen Buffy like that. She just took off." Willow said.
"Well, she didn't go home." Xander said joining them. "The phone rang a few hundred times, before I remembered her mom is out of town."
"Maybe Buffy unplugged the phone." Giles suggested.
"No, it's a statistical impossibility for a sixteen year old girl to unplug her phone." Xander said in disagreement. The teen witches nodded confirmation when the Watcher looked at them questioningly.
"Well, perhaps my words of caution were… a little too alarming." Giles said in concern.
"You think?" Xander said sarcastically.
"It's good that she took you seriously Giles." Willow assured him. "I just wish we knew where she was."
"I-I'm going to go call Dawn, make sure she knows not to come home until it's safe." Tara said getting up. "I'll take her to my house if Buffy isn't home tomorrow."
"You think she'd really stay out that long?" Willow asked. Tara shrugged, shaking her head with a deep frown. "I sure hope not."
Dawn said Janice's mother was happy to drop her off at school the next day. Tara extended an invitation to take Dawn back to the Maclay house tomorrow afternoon while leaving out the full extent of the danger her older sister was in, just saying she might be caught up with Slayer business for a while.
…
The evening dragged on with no results, and eventually Xander and Tara had to head home. When Tara got home she found her mother in the kitchen brewing tea. Eileen covered her mouth as a deep cough wracked her.
"Mom?" Tara said setting down her book bag. "What's going on? Why aren't you in bed?"
"I could ask you the same thing." Eileen said indicating the oven's clock with a nod of her head. She coughed again, taking a few deep breaths afterwards with a hand to steady her chest. "Just needed something to soothe the coughing, it's keeping everyone up."
Tara frowned at her mother's self-deprecation and moved between her and the kettle.
"You go sit down, I'll finish the tea." Eileen sighed and gave in, sitting down in the living room. "Um, is it okay if I have Dawn over here tomorrow? I might need to babysit her. Mrs. Summers is out of town and Buffy is… busy."
"Of course, you know your friends are welcome here anytime." Tara poured a mug for her mother and brought it to her carefully. "Thank you." Eileen took a gentle sip and let out a sigh of contentment, looking at her daughter thoughtfully. "Buffy is very lucky to have you for a friend Tara."
The teen smiled, taking a seat beside Eileen on the couch.
"Luck is definitely something she needs lots of."
They chatted for a while, the elder woman's coughs becoming softer and fewer as she drank the hot tea. Tara was still anxious about the Order of Taraka and the missing book, so she set her alarm clock a couple of hours early so she could get back to the library as soon as possible.
…
Giles was already there when Tara arrived, answering a phone call in his office.
"Xander? No, I haven't heard from Buffy yet. I think you should go to her house and check on her. Well… right-right away."
Tara walked past him, seeing Willow asleep in front of the computer on the central table. She tiptoed over, trying not to startle the sleeping girl.
"I don't know! Get Cordelia to drive you." Giles hung up as Tara gave her friend a tentative tap on the shoulder.
It wasn't enough to wake her.
"Willow…" Tara whispered, almost regretting having to disturb her after what had surely been a long and uncomfortable night for the little hacker.
Willow was running from a giant frog assassin from the Order of Taraka, trying to avoid his tadpole spies. They had almost spotted her, and she had to warn the others of their duplicitous nature before it was too late. Her friends were talking by a pond, unaware of that their secrets plans were in danger of being revealed.
"Don't warn the tadpoles!" Willow shouted.
She looked around blearily as she opened her eyes, not remembering where she was. She was just waking up, so she must be in her bedroom. But if she was in her bedroom, what was Tara doing here? The early morning light was making the girl's hair even more golden than usual, almost casting a glowing halo around her sweet face.
Maybe I'm still dreaming, Willow thought, She looks like an angel.
"A-are you all right?" Tara said tenderly, resisting the urge to brush the strands of red hair out of her crush's face.
"Tara, what are you doing here?" Willow asked in confusion.
"Um, we're in the school library, Will. You, must have fallen asleep."
Willow was startled and embarrassed at being found in such a state.
"Oh, I… did I say anything?" She asked, knowing she sometimes talked in her sleep.
"You um, said 'Don't warn the tadpoles'." Tara replied.
Willow squirmed in further embarrassment.
"I… I have frog fear." She explained. She half expected Tara to laugh at her, but was relieved when her tutor just nodded empathetically.
I can't believe anyone can be so brave and so quirky. She fights demons and mummies, and then gets frightened by horses and frogs. Tara thought fondly. She is just too adorable.
Willow saw Giles watching them, the Watcher having let the girls be until Willow was more together.
"I'm sorry. I conked out." She apologized.
"Oh please." He said dismissing her unneeded apology. "You've gone quite beyond the call of duty. But… fortunately, I think I may have found something, finally."
"You did?" Tara asked, hoping it was good news.
Giles' tone told Tara it wasn't.
"I found a description of the missing du Lac manuscript. It's a ritual, girls. Now, I haven't managed to decipher the exact details, but I… I believe the purpose is to restore a weak and sick vampire back to full health."
The witches shared a knowing look, remembering which fiend currently in town matched that description.
"A vampire like Drusilla?" Willow asked.
"Exactly."
…
Meanwhile Buffy was throwing down with a powerful girl at Angel's apartment. She assumed the fighter was the second assassin from the Order. What the girl claimed her identity to be was the last thing Buffy would have expected.
"I'm Kendra, the vampire Slayer."